


Five

by RomanceAddiction



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-20
Updated: 2018-10-20
Packaged: 2019-08-04 22:03:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16355099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RomanceAddiction/pseuds/RomanceAddiction
Summary: Your wife is dead.Denial. Anger. Bargaining. Depression. Acceptance.The first 5 months passed in a blur of monotony and routine. But the next 5 hours, he remembers for years.Oliver prepares himself for the words he knows John is here to say.





	Five

**Your wife is dead.**

The first 5 months passed in a blur of monotony and routine. But the next 5 hours, he remembers for years.

 

_denial_

**Your wife is dead**

Technically, the first hour is a bit of a blur as well. He remembers the sudden punch from Diaz’s minion as he turns around. It catches him off-guard and he falls on the slippery floor of the shower area. As he starts to get up, he hears the words that have been haunting his nightmares every single day since he stepped into this cage.

**Your wife is dead**

Oliver doesn’t remember anything much after that. He was probably escorted back to the cell by the prison guards, as usual arriving to break up the fight just as it’s ended. He remembers waking up in his cell, staring at the same blue bars.

 

_anger_

**Your wife is dead**

He wants to punch something. It takes everything in him for Oliver to resist tearing his cell apart, not that it would do any good. For one thing, it’s lights out and he can’t be caught causing a commotion at this hour. For another, he barely has much in the small space to destroy.

He could punch the mirror, it would just mean another trip to the hospital and one less face to see everyday. They wouldn’t replace it that easily. He could sweep all the stuff off his small shelf. But all it holds is his photograph of his family and one book. Both are too precious to be treated like garbage. The photo was his last happy memory before being locked in here, the book the last thing Diggle managed to smuggle through to him as meagre entertainment.

Oliver settles for fuming silently, nails digging his palms raw as he sits on the bed and gazes up at the ceiling, unseeing.

 

_bargaining_

**Your wife is dead**

Oliver barely sleeps well on a normal night, even considering the few hours given to the prisoners for rest. This night, he knows it is impossible. He closes his eyes to a nightmare and opens his eyes to another. There is no escape. All Oliver can do is wish, though exactly for what he does not know.

He wishes they’d never left Ivy Town, though he knows Felicity would have eventually convinced them to return anyway. Despite the happiness they had there, he would never leave Star City to decay in the hands of a madman like Damien Darhk. And the stagnation in Ivy Town would have worn away at them sooner or later.

He wishes that he’d never approached Felicity’s cubicle, all those years ago. Sure, the retrieval of files from a laptop as damaged as the one he managed to steal from Floyd Lawton was beyond his limited technical expertise, but he could have chosen anyone else. Walter might have pointed her out as the best, but the rest of the experts Queen Consolidated hired could have done as good a job. As expected of an arrogant heir to billions, he only went for the best.

He wishes he hadn’t boarded that yacht with Sara, so long ago it feels like it’s been several lifetimes. He should have been content with the loving girlfriend he already had. He should have been content with the bright future that had been mapped out for him the second he was born. He should have been content, he was Oliver Queen of the Starling City Queens.

His mind races in circles, thinking of what he could have, should have, would have done. But would it have been worth it, never knowing the scant happiness he’s managed to enjoy the past few years. To have basked in Felicity’s love and light, to know what it was like to be a father, to lead a group of heroes, to save his city and the world countless times.   
Was it worth it, knowing it all amounts to nothing anyway. His family is still dead, his team is still hiding and separated, his city is still in danger from yet another diabolical madman. Has he, once again, accomplished nothing since his return 6 years ago.

 

_depression_

Morning comes. Oliver paces around the cell like a caged animal, waiting for the warden’s usual greeting.

**Your wife is dead**

“ I need to make a phone call.” Oliver demands….pleads before the warden can even open his mouth. The rejection he receives is anticipated. The reply that he has a visitor is not.

It’s not John’s usual visiting day. Oliver has spent the last few hours pushing it out of his mind, but the simple statement seems to confirm his worst fears.

**Your wife is dead**

There is no reason for John to visit twice in a week unless…

**Your wife is dead**

If his walk to the Visitors Area is slower than usual, the warden doesn’t seem to notice. Oliver sits down heavily on the hard metal chair. He can’t look up at the door. He can barely lift his head to the receiver which at any moment, will convey what he never wanted to hear.

**Your wife is dead**

_acceptance_

Oliver hears the door open.

**Your wife is dead**

He prepares himself for the words he knows John is here to say. But the footsteps that approach are lighter than he’s heard in months.

 

_light_

**Your wife is dead**

Slowly, so slowly, Oliver lifts his head. He is greeted by a sight he didn’t think he would see.   
Oliver braces himself in case he is jolted awake by the realisation that he is still in his cell, dreaming. He quickly picks up the receiver and the vision in the glass does the same.

**Your wife is…**

“You’re ok.”

**Felicity is alive.**

**Author's Note:**

> Oh look. A fic. It's been 9349834579459 years.
> 
> I love Season 7 so much ;w;   
> Not sure whether to open a Season 7 one-shot collection or just leave it as a standalone like the rest because I'm always super hyped during premiere week but I never know if I'll write another one again. Haha


End file.
